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Name: Benjamin VanRoekel

School: Dowagiac Union High School and Middle School

Grades/subjects taught: 6th through 12th grade band

Where did you attend college? 

Western Michigan University and Southwestern Michigan College

How many years have you been teaching? 

How many years have you been with your current school? This is my first year teaching.

Why did you decide to become a teacher? 

I decided to be a musician first, but after tutoring for a few years and working with some local schools’ bands, I found that I really wanted to pass on the craft of music through teaching.

Outside of school, what do you enjoy doing for fun? 

I spend a good amount of time outside of school performing on saxophone, especially during the summer. Other than that I have been catching up on some of my backlog of movies and computer games. I also try to spend a lot of my free time with friends and family while we all still live close-by.

What is one thing your students may not know about you? 

I really love playing tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons. I am running a game outside of school and have played in many groups before this.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? 

Duncan Idaho from the Dune novels is one of my (many) favorites. He is just such an interesting character in the scope of the six main books. He almost acts as the readers’ eyes and ears throughout the many thousands of years that the fiction spans. He embodies the ideal of free-will to a fault, in a universe that has predestination and prophecy as a core thematic idea. Read all of Frank Herbert’s Dune books if you haven’t.

When you were a student in the grade you teach, what were your favorite hobbies? 

Music, obviously. But I was also involved in robotics and tennis during high school. Before that I spent a lot of time fixing and experimenting with old computers.

How would your coworkers describe your teaching style and personality? 

Laid back, very personal and caring, funny, maybe a bit chaotic at times.

Who is your biggest role model and why? 

Dr. Korzun of Southwestern Michigan College. He was the one who (inadvertently) converted me to studying music. His band class was so interesting and engaging, I wanted nothing more than to be in more of them. He always had an answer for anything, and was great at connecting with all of his students. I still see him regularly at St. Joseph Municipal Band performances and I would consider him not only a role model now, but a mentor and friend as well.

How has education changed in the last 10 years? 

I have not seen education from the educator’s perspective for more than the last 4 years while studying at WMU. The biggest thing that I personally experienced was the massive spike in the need for technology and technical skills, while at the same time seeing a decline in actual technology education. I was one of the first high school classes to be required to take a computer class at my school. I was happy at the time, but I see so many people with a lack of foundational knowledge of how the technology around them works today, that I feel something has been left behind. Just because kids are constantly surrounded by technology, doesn’t mean they understand it.

What is your best advice to parents to help their child continue to grow academically? 

Be constantly and deeply involved in everything your child does, and trust your child’s teachers. A grade (whether bad or good) is only a good motivator if you make it a good motivator.

If my students learn one thing this year, I hope it is… that being vulnerable and creative in a group environment (like in band class) is one of the most challenging and fulfilling things you can do as a human being.